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Session Submission Summary

Mathematics teaching and learning in world education programs in Ghana, Nepal, and Cote d’Ivoire: taking stock of where we are and sharing lessons learned

Wed, April 17, 5:00 to 6:30pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Atrium (Level 2), Waterfront B

Group Submission Type: Paper Session

Proposal

Reports on the “global learning crisis” often cite poor learning outcomes in mathematics right alongside poor literacy results, yet international donor investment, especially led by USAID, and programming have tended to prioritize literacy. The evidence base on early grade reading in challenging resource-poor areas is vast and rigorous, and spans interventions that seek improvement through a variety of levers, including family and community engagement, textbooks and materials, school management, teacher professional development, technology-based interventions, and more. Yet literacy’s counterpart in the concept of “basic skills”—that is, numeracy—receives less attention, investment, and on-the-ground effort. Compared to early grade reading, the evidence base on mathematics teaching and learning in resource-poor conditions is nascent.

This panel aims to accelerate the expansion of the evidence base on mathematics teaching and learning by sharing not only results of mathematics interventions, but also detailed discussion of process elements such as curriculum review, assessment development, identification of location-specific challenges and resources for mathematics teaching and learning, contextualization of materials and instructional techniques, and government engagement for sustainability.

The panel will share process lessons and assessment results from four programs in Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Nepal implemented by World Education.

First, we will share baseline results from the Strategic Approaches to Girls’ Education (STAGE) project targeting at-risk girls in Ghana and discuss the process of adapting the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment for older students and using baseline data to inform intervention design. The approach here will be one of taking stock of current levels of mathematics learning and sharing insights on data-driven program design processes and challenges.

Second, we will draw on experience implementing two programs in Nepal—one focused on early grade mathematics and one targeting struggling students in grades 4-8—to tell a comprehensive story about how weak foundations haunt children later in school. Through discussions of curriculum review, benchmark development, and government engagement, the presentation will provide valuable insights on some of the tensions and trade-offs that arise in mathematics program development. The presentation will share Nepal’s first EGMA results to present a stocktaking of early primary learning, while comparative baseline and endline results from multiple cohorts of remedial intervention in grades 4-8 (under a separate project) will provide evidence of promising practices in mathematics intervention.

Third, in Cote d’Ivoire, World Education collaborated closely with both local and national Ministry of Education partners and teachers to develop and pilot contextually appropriate supplementary learning materials that complement the existing government curriculum and standards as well as a teacher professional development program to ensure consistent application and use of these materials. This presentation will share evidence from comparison of the program’s baseline and midline results as well as practitioner insights on gaps in learning and teaching, which elements of the intervention have been most effective, and strategies for government collaboration and eventual adoption.

Common to all three presentations will be discussions of how assessments, interventions, materials, and government engagement strategies were and can be contextualized to local contexts. In all three settings, as well, we faced common challenges, including a focus on procedure rather than conceptual understanding and limited teacher capacity in mathematics. Across geographies, the programs sought to overcome the common emphasis on memorization, single correct answers, and mathematical work as a mechanized process to inspire more constructivist approaches to mathematics teaching and learning, especially by encouraging teachers and students to draw on instances of mathematics in the real world around them, diverse as those settings are. In each of the three countries, as well, we targeted mathematics not in a void, but in conjunction with literacy interventions, and the panel will also discuss how numeracy efforts can draw on and complement structures and prior achievements from literacy interventions.

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